«Anna Sergeyevna, dear, our loaders have made such a mess!» exclaimed the administrator. «Oh, I’m sorry for barging in like this! We have an emergency, as you can understand…» She paused briefly to catch her breath and wipe large drops of sweat from her forehead. «So, what are we going to do? Two boxes of champagne have been smashed to smithereens! From France! Oh… and I don’t even want to say how much it cost us.»
«There’s no need. You can tell me after the holidays.»
The woman at the director’s desk showed no sign of agitation.
«What, there’s no other champagne in this city? Order the missing boxes somewhere else… and don’t skimp.»
The administrator helplessly waved her hand:
«On New Year’s Eve? Now, even the chain supermarkets have been cleaned out! Stocked up to last through the holidays! Anna Sergeyevna, you know…»
The director stubbornly shook her golden curls.
«Sergeyevna again? Lyudmila, why do you hate me so? How many times must I repeat, for you I am just Anna, simply Anna! As for the champagne… send one of the procurers, let them check the stores, maybe there’s some left in the warehouses… Act! And stop being nervous, you’re only exhausting yourself and others. Until New Year’s there’s…» The girl looked at her watch and smiled dreamily and distantly. Her bracelet—a thin, shimmering with that delicate luster that distinguishes truly expensive things, fashioned like a grapevine winding around her wrist. No vulgar brightness. No painted glass beads. Exquisite simplicity.
«You didn’t finish,» the administrator reminded her. «You started and…»
«What?» Anna seemed to wake up. She ran her finger over the watch, smiled. «Ah, yes… there are six hours left until New Year’s, and I want everything to go perfectly. Now, I need to take care of some things. I won’t be back until ten.»
«But it’s a restaurant!» Lyudmila almost pleaded, but the girl was no longer listening. She quickly checked the contents of her purse, ran to the mirror, and fluffed up her hair.
«But you still have to give orders to the chef! To the bartenders! What about the hall? You haven’t approved the hall’s decoration yet! The florists are waiting for you! Anna!»
«Lyudochka, you’ll manage perfectly well without me,» the girl smiled. «I have so little time today…»
«What about the musicians? They are already here!»
«Excellent. Offer them some refreshments before work.»
«That’s not possible! They’ll get drunk, and then what good will they be…»
«You see, Lyudmila,» Anna’s hand, clad in a silk glove, gently touched the manager’s cheek. «You know everything even better than me. How can I help you? Just not by getting under your feet.»
And the girl, hurriedly throwing on her fur coat, left the office.
Lyudmila watched her go, feeling a storm of indignation, condescension, and terror rising in her soul.
«I won’t cope! I’ll never cope…» she muttered.
She slowly approached the mirror, where just a minute ago Anna stood with all her smiles, mane of curls, sweet flattery, and delicate scent of perfume.
This time, the mirror reflected the pale, very flustered face of a woman well over forty. Her look, however, was resolute and even stubborn.
«Alright,» Lyudmila commanded herself, «calmed down now! I’ve dealt with worse.»
She wasn’t lying to herself. Life had been full of all sorts. Oh, all sorts! Raising two children alone because her husband died in a drunken accident in a sauna. And the second husband who brought three children from a previous marriage, then left to work in the taiga, where he stayed, notifying her in a short letter. Although what letter? More like a note! Scrawled in an indecent handwriting on a scrap of paper: «I won’t return, fell in love with another. Don’t abandon the children!»
She didn’t abandon them. She raised them as her own, and didn’t forget about her own either. She brought them all up, educated them, made them into decent people. And it’s not like anyone was particularly eager to help her with that. There was even a tough time when she worked as a taxi driver at night. She’d put the kids to bed and then off to her shift! She managed it, after all! And she’ll cope now too. What’s one restaurant? It’s nothing compared to raising five young kids.
Her anger at the fleeing director flared and then faded immediately. What kind of director is she, don’t make me laugh! A silly twenty-year-old, what does she know about life? Her place is organizing parties, corporate events… she loves fun, but then, who doesn’t? Especially at twenty.
But overall, she’s a decent girl. Just too early for her to be a captain; she needs to serve as a sailor first.
Her parents—that’s a different matter! But now, they’ve waited until the girl grew up a bit and handed over the business to her. And they themselves moved to the countryside, to grow roses. Anna’s father, Sergey Nikitich, personally asked Lyudmila to help the girl in everything.
«To a young lady,» he had said, «especially one that’s pretty and with money, how long before she falls? God forbid, she might get involved with the wrong crowd, then what? Better she stays busy. Less time for nonsense. And you, Lyudmila, help her, advise her when needed.»
Sergey Nikitich’s reasoning was sound, Lyudmila had to admit. She herself had taught her children to work hard and believed that idleness and a life of leisure are the roots of all evil.
But wise father Sergey didn’t consider one thing: it was too early to put Anna at the helm, she had no experience whatsoever. If she had worked under her father’s guidance for a year or two, gotten a little roughed up, collected some bumps and victories, then she might be ready for solo sailing… now Lyudmila had to deal with her. Ah, but why even talk about it! Lyudmila might not have bothered with the spoiled girl if…
The manager smoothed her hair, left the office, and walked determinedly to the kitchen: the chef awaited her final instructions.
Anna ran to her car, rejoicing that she had cleverly offloaded today’s dull tasks onto Lyudmila, yet feeling guilty for having done so.
Lyudmila was golden as a worker, but in her presence, Anna always felt as if she was a fifth grader who decided to skip school for a movie. Running to buy tickets, all excited for the interesting film, and then straight from around the corner, a stern school administrator appears. «Sidorova! Why aren’t you in school? Today you have a geometry test!»
That’s how Lyudmila was too. Always calling to order, pressing on the conscience. Though Anna wasn’t a fool. Surely her father wouldn’t have handed the restaurant over to a fool?
The thin bracelet on her wrist caught and reflected the light of a street lamp. The girl smiled as she got into the car and admired her watch again.
A gift from Romeo… the name sounded so romantic, like from a play about lovers.
And what if such a name came with tall stature, perfectly sculpted muscles, and a teasing, slightly cocky smile at the corners of his mouth? And a deep voice with a light Italian accent, sending shivers down the body?
«We’ll go to my place in the spring,» he promised. «You absolutely must schedule at least a few weeks off. Leave Lyudmila in your stead, and we’ll go.»
«Where?» Anna asked, just to say something. With Romeo, she was ready to go anywhere, not just for a few weeks, but for a lifetime…
«I’ll show you the real Italy. You’ve never seen anything like it. I have a vineyard in the south, we’ll roam my vineyards incognito. We’ll drive through villages, drink young wine, watch the sun blaze at sunset. As much wine and sun as you want, my love! And then I’ll take you to Venice. I have a palazzo there! It used to be my grandfather’s, then my father’s, and now it’s mine. There are stained glass windows made of pure crystal, and the steps are pink marble… family dishes made of gold, adorned with rubies and emeralds.»
«So it turns out I love a rich Pinocchio?» the girl laughed.
«I’m not Pinocchio, what are you talking about,» Romeo smiled sadly. «Only in fairy tales can Pinocchio be rich, but in real life, I am Papa Carlo, who always works, works, works… But I am luckier than him. Papa Carlo didn’t have a love, but I have my Anna.»
To this day, recalling these words, the girl sweetly squinted, and it seemed happiness enveloped her from head to toe, like a long cloak from a Venetian carnival.
She would have gladly sat there, motionless, with her eyes closed, basking in this wonderful feeling of love and gratitude.
«Too bad it can’t be like this,» Anna sighed, starting the car. In the back seat lay a huge bright red sack, tied with a bow – gifts for the orphanage kids. Today, she had to make sure to stop by the orphanage to deliver the gifts.
Another bag, even larger, lay in the trunk. These were gifts for the residents of the nursing home.
Having become the owner of a restaurant, Anna eagerly engaged in charity. Having grown up in care and abundance, she genuinely felt sorry for those whom fate had deprived of both. And since she met Romeo…
«I don’t complain about life,» she confessed to her beloved. «I have everything: loving parents, I’ve never known need or poverty. And now even love…»
«Is that bad?» he was surprised.
Anna shook her head.
«No, of course not. But now that I am so happy, I want to make everyone happy! I know it’s impossible, but we can at least improve others’ lives a little bit.»
Romeo looked at her seriously and then suddenly beamed a smile.
«How nicely you put it, dear! And besides, charity is tax-exempt! You’ve ingeniously figured out: helping others will be profitable for you.»
For some reason, that made Anna feel hurt, as if her beloved didn’t understand her but thought she was using charity as another way to save money.
«He’s Italian,» she reassured herself, «they think differently, not like us.» It helped, but Anna began helping orphanages and nursing homes unofficially, as if to prove to herself that, for her, a Russian, it certainly wasn’t about the taxes.
At the orphanage, they urged her to stay and personally greet the children, but the girl declined. She needed to hurry to the nursing home.
And Romeo was already planning to go to the restaurant and had managed to send at least a hundred ecstatic texts to her phone.
«We’ll meet soon, dear. How I miss you!» he wrote in the last message.
Each time she heard the short beep of a received text, the girl smiled. And since the messages kept coming non-stop, the smile never left her face. In her dreams, she was already at her restaurant, next to her beloved, looking forward to the new year.
«Smirking, that fancy tramp, while people have nothing to eat!» she suddenly heard from somewhere to the side. Startled, she dropped her phone, and as soon as she bent down to pick it up, she received a not strong, but quite unpleasant jab on the ankle.
A dirty-gray imprint now adorned her fluffy beige boot.
The girl straightened up and looked around for the offender. But who could you make out in the rushing New Year’s crowd? No one was looking at her with a malicious smirk, no one was waiting.
Why? She was just…
«Don’t be upset,» a soft male voice spoke up behind her.
Anna turned around.
A meter away stood a beggarly old man. In his hand, he held a hat into which some passersby were tossing coins.
«People can be envious, girl,» he casually explained. «They see a young beauty in front of them who…»
He paused for a second to thank another passerby who put a few small coins into the hat.
«A young beauty who also smiles so happily. Some remember their own problems at that moment and start thinking that life has treated them unfairly… Thank you,» he smiled at a new benefactor.
Anna looked thoughtfully at the old man, and sensing her gaze, he smiled back. In the hat lay a handful of coins and a couple of banknotes rolled into tubes.
«Probably just about a hundred rubles in total,» she quickly estimated. And yet it’s a holiday…
«Grandpa,» she decided, «if you want, come today to…» Anna quickly found a business card of the restaurant in her pocket and handed it to the old man. «Here. I’ll tell them to feed you well in the utility room. I can’t bring you into the hall, sorry. There will be guests there… but at least you’ll eat and take something tasty with you!»
«Thank you,» the beggar thanked her with dignity. «I will definitely be there.»
«Well, that’s great!» she hurried to her car. A snowstorm was starting outside, and standing in the snow was not appealing at all. Still, our climate is cold… No matter, in the spring she would go with Romeo to Italy! She wondered if their journey would be a honeymoon or just a vacation?
On one hand, they hadn’t yet discussed marriage. But on the other, Romeo had hinted several times that he had prepared a special gift for her for this evening.
The old man watched the departing car and slowly, shuffling in his light, out-of-season shoes, wandered off on his own.
Shameful… Oh, how shameful it was because of the kindness of this unfamiliar girl! Was it proper for an elderly man to accept help from a girl young enough to be his granddaughter? He used to help others himself… once upon a time…
Anna was already hurrying. Big cities never sleep, and on New Year’s Eve, the number of cars on the streets seemed to have doubled! What if she got stuck in traffic and ended up spending the entire New Year’s night in her car? That would be disappointing… and Romeo was surely already at the restaurant, waiting for her with other guests.
Thinking of Romeo and his special gift, for the first time all day, the girl didn’t smile but frowned instead.
What if he proposes?
The thought suddenly made Anna very anxious. Marriage was not yet in her plans. No, of course, she wanted to have a family of her own, to have children… but not now, not at twenty! She was still so young; she wanted pleasures, not responsibilities! And what to say to her beloved if he indeed proposed? Would rejecting him not offend him? And what if he left her?
The festive mood evaporated faster than an ice cube in the sun…
«I won’t think about it,» the girl promised herself, «At least, not today.»
She was already approaching the restaurant. Its windows, adorned with shimmering New Year’s garlands, beckoned invitingly to warmth and merriment.
The wing looked abandoned, as it indeed was. It once belonged to a merchant’s house, where the housekeeper lived in the wing. Later, the house was transformed into some kind of institution, but even then the small wing was not empty: some events (nowadays, one would say corporate) were held there. In the nineties, the institution was liquidated, and the house—half-ruined, dangerous—was left to weather under snow and rain.
Now the wing was a refuge for the homeless. In summer, it was even cozy: large windows let in lots of light, a pond splashed nearby, and some weeds greened around… nature, after all.
Winter was tough. No electricity, no gas, no heating… Yet the homeless commune grew each year with the onset of cold weather until spring. Though there was no heat or light, at least the walls still offered some protection from the wind and a bit from the frost.
The old man lived here year-round, which is why the beggar brethren began to regard him as only half one of their own.
«You’re a bourgeois, Petrovich!» they would chuckle harmlessly. «Not a real homeless, you live not on the streets. Don’t you have relatives? How did it come to be that you became homeless?»
Petrovich never answered such questions. Relatives or no relatives, how he became homeless… it was nobody’s business, and there was no need to stir up the past.
But now, getting ready for the «invited evening» in the restaurant’s back room, he couldn’t help but reminisce. His only coat, once black but now faded to grey, he carefully cleaned with a pine branch he found. His trousers could have used ironing, but such amenities as an iron were not to be found in this wing. On his worn sweater, Petrovich neatly rolled up the sleeves and snipped a loose thread at the neckline.
He could not assess how he looked—where would one find a mirror here?
But one of his neighbors, a grumpy old man whom everyone somehow called «Two for a Hundred,» upon seeing Petrovich, approvingly quacked:
«Looks like you’re off to a date, old rascal!»
From this dubious compliment, the old man concluded that he looked quite decent, even dressy. Of course, by homeless standards. Well… Petrovich had no other standards for a long time.
As he left, he glanced around the wing, its inhabitants, and what with some imagination could be called furnishings: rags in the corners that served as beds for their owners, and a crate in the middle of the room. The crate pretended to be a table. Badly, truly unconvincingly. The floors were covered with newspapers.
Yes, if someone had told him earlier that he would spend his life in such a place! He would never have believed it, no way. Was he ever accustomed to living in such places? Did he not turn away in disgust at the sight of a homeless person rummaging through a garbage can? Didn’t he shake his head in disapproval? There you go, Petrovich! Don’t make promises.
«Maybe I shouldn’t go anywhere?» the old man suddenly thought. Now to walk through festively dressed streets, and at the restaurant, he would surely meet many cheerful, cleanly dressed people who came with family and friends. And he himself would be fed in the back room, given some leftovers… Happy New Year, grandpa! And after seeing all that, returning here would feel even worse…
«Two for a Hundred,» who had been watching Petrovich from his corner the whole time, suddenly winked:
«Don’t worry, old timer! We’ll live—we won’t die!»
«To hell with it!» decided Petrovich, «I’ll go! At least I’ll drag some food back with me, it’s a holiday after all!»
He pulled his coat around himself and stepped out of the wing.
The usual festive bustle reigned in the restaurant’s hall.
Anna hadn’t yet greeted the guests. Lyudmila, upon seeing the director, almost forcibly made her come into the office and listen to the report.
«The musicians say our sound system is terrible, and they didn’t bring their own equipment. Their rehearsal space recently burned down, along with all their gear. Well, nothing can be done, they’ll have to play as best they can…»
«Lyudmila,» Anna interrupted her, «you’re doing great. But now I need to go to the guests…»
«We paid the florists according to the estimate,» Lyudmila continued, ignoring her boss’s words. «But one of the arrangements fell apart, so we deducted its cost…»
«Lyudmila, please…»
«We found similar champagne, though with great difficulty and a bit of an overcharge. It’s chilling now,» the manager relentlessly continued. «I’ve given the orders to the chef and the bartenders.»
«Thank you!» shouted Anna. «And now let me go greet the guests in peace!»
She went into the hall, almost pushing Lyudmila aside, and nearly burst into tears when she saw that no one seemed to have waited for her. The guests were having fun, chatting, hugging friends. Somewhere a champagne cork popped, people shouted «Happy upcoming New Year!»
It hurt. Anna so wanted to start the evening by personally greeting everyone, congratulating them, thanking them for coming. Well, she was delayed, couldn’t meet the guests herself, but they couldn’t be expected to wait outside until the hostess arrived.
But couldn’t they have at least not started the fun without her?
«Don’t worry so much,» Lyudmila advised quietly, appearing out of nowhere. «Now I’ll tell the musicians to stop playing, and you can go up, take the stage, and greet everyone.»
«I think,» Anna replied gloomily, «they don’t care about me at all. Look, they didn’t even notice that the hostess of the evening has arrived.»
The manager shrugged.
«You’re exaggerating. Did you want them to sit around bored at the tables? People came here to relax. They are relaxing and at the same time waiting for you.»
Anna looked doubtfully at the noisy crowd. Waiting? And by the way, where was Romeo?
«Lyuda, have you seen…»
«There, at the bar.»
Lyudmila, as always, understood immediately who she was asking about.
Romeo was animatedly talking to someone on the phone. Even from this distance, Anna could tell he was speaking Italian. She had long noticed how her beloved transformed when he switched to his native language. His expressions became more animated, and he gestured so much it seemed he had four arms, not two.
Romeo, sensing he was being watched, turned around and noticed Anna. His face lit up with joy, and he rushed across the room to her. The girl extended her hands toward her beloved.
The music fell silent. The guests looked around in confusion but then broke into smiles, noticing the embracing couple.
«Happy New Year, Anechka!» shouts came flying.
«Thank you for the invite, dear!»
«Anya, your team is super-professional! Didn’t expect…»
«Thank you, thank you,» she thanked them bashfully. «I’m so glad you all came and that you like it…»
Someone already handed her a glass of champagne, and the musicians began to play something slow and beautiful again.
«Shall we go to our table?» she suggested to Romeo.
He nodded absently and glanced at his phone again.
«Of course. Oh, sorry, I need to reply!»
Although Anna had hoped that her beloved would be entirely hers this evening, she forced herself to smile. Italian! Probably now his entire extended family was calling: parents, grandmothers, uncles, all fourteen cousins, and four second cousins.
«Anna Sergeyevna!»—The ubiquitous Lyudmila was by her side again. «Anna Sergeyevna, there’s an unusual guest over there. Claims to know you.»
«Where?»
Anna scanned the room and immediately spotted a figure in a dreadful coat.
«I must have entered the wrong way,» the old man muttered, blushing under the bewildered stares from all around. «My apologies.»
«No, no, what are you talking about!»
Anna nodded to the manager: it’s all right! The only person who noticed nothing was Romeo. He continued to talk, and his Italian speech seemed deafening in the ensuing silence.
«Thank you for coming, grandpa,» Anna said tenderly to the old man. «Have a seat at the table…»
«I’d be better off somewhere in the kitchen,» Petrovich looked away. «I feel out of place here…»
«Alright, as you wish. Then Lyudmila will show you to… Lord, Romeo!» Anna couldn’t take it anymore. «Can you be quiet for just a minute?»
Meanwhile, the old man, looking at the Italian, suddenly darkened. He walked over to the table and slapped the young man across the face.
Anna gasped.
Romeo looked bewilderedly from the girl to the absurd dirty old man beside her.
«How dare you!» Petrovich scorned him in Italian.
«Grandpa… What?» Anna asked, confused.
The old man turned to her.
«Forgive me, dear. But I couldn’t stand it. This scoundrel was just telling someone on the phone: ‘This fool invited a beggar to the restaurant. But don’t worry, darling, as soon as the restaurant becomes ours, there will be no homeless in it!'»
«Romeo…» The girl didn’t take her eyes off her beloved’s face. «Romeo… what is he saying?»
The Italian twisted his lips into a harsh smirk and, swearing obscenely in his native language, left the room, disdainfully bypassing Petrovich.
Anna tiredly sat down in the chair that Romeo had just vacated.
«And… how do you know Italian?» she asked the old man.
Petrovich looked sympathetically at the girl. Such a disappointment in her beloved! But she was holding up, a brave girl! She was still asking questions… The old man disliked questions, but understood that the guests’ attention was consumed by the dreadful scene unfolding here. If he didn’t distract them now, they would keep gossiping about the girl who was already in distress.
They might as well gossip about him.
Petrovich sighed and began to tell his story:
«I wasn’t always homeless,» he started with the obvious. «In my previous life… many years ago, I taught foreign languages at the university. French, Spanish… and Italian too. My wife was a scholar of ancient Rome… together, we had twenty happy years, raised a daughter. After my wife passed away, I devoted myself entirely to work, to my students. By then, my daughter was married and had moved across the country. Five years later, she died during childbirth. The child… it was a boy, survived, and his father raised him alone. I hoped that one day I would get to meet my grandson…»
And one day, he waited…
Petrovich hesitated, as if it became difficult to speak.
«Bring some tea,» Lyudmila whispered to a passing waiter, «can’t you see, the old man is freezing.»
«Kostya sent me a message,» Petrovich continued, «in which he told me he had lost a serious amount of money in a card game to some serious people. The amount was astronomical; I couldn’t believe my eyes… My grandson’s life was now hanging by a thread, and the only thing left to do was to transfer my house and apartment to the people whose names Kostya had provided. These gentlemen visited me the next day, and I… how could I refuse to help my only grandson?»
The old man smiled bitterly and spread his hands.
«That’s the whole story. Sorry it’s not festive, but it is what it is.»
Lyudmila handed him a cup of hot tea.
«And what about Kostya?» she asked quietly. «Your grandson?»
«I never saw Kostya,» Petrovich simply said. «I tried calling the number from which the message came, but no one answered, and messages didn’t get through. Eventually, I stopped trying.»
Anna closed her eyes to hold back the tears.
«Grandpa,» she said, covering the old man’s hand with her own, «please, don’t be upset. I’ll figure out how to help you.»
«Thank you, my dear,» Petrovich smiled. «Thank you.»
The early morning found Anna and Lyudmila in the director’s office. The guests had only left half an hour ago.
Anna groaned with relief as she took off her beautiful, but impossibly tight shoes.
«Phew!» she exhaled and leaned back in the chair. «Thank God, the New Year’s Eve is over! What a celebration it turned out to be… I wouldn’t wish it on my enemies.»
«Life is life,» Lyudmila philosophically noted. «It doesn’t ask whether it’s a holiday or not. You certainly had a rough night. That Romeo… but maybe it’s better that everything came out now, rather than after the wedding? I think it’s for the best.»
«And I really feel sorry for that old man.»
«I promised to help him,» Anna said thoughtfully. «But how? Finding him decent housing, restoring his documents, that’s clear. But we also need to try to find his grandson. But where to start… we need to hire a good detective.»
«With that,» Lyudmila slapped her hand on the table, «there are no difficulties at all. My eldest, Vitka, runs a whole detective agency. Didn’t I tell you?»
«No.» Surprised, Anna sat up straight. No trace of fatigue.
«Lyudmila, then I have another personal request for you. It’s about Romeo…»
They received the answers sooner than they could have expected.
«About Romeo, I have nothing good to report,» Lyudmila sighed. «You don’t even need to look for him; his photos are all over women’s forums. A marriage scammer. He’s actually from some backwater in Italy, but he managed to rise at the expense of his ex-wives. One was persuaded to transfer a small winery to him, another was talked into giving him a car dealership. He goes by the name Romeo, probably because it sounds more romantic. His real name is Antonio Scardelli.
He was doing well for a while, but then…
«What happened next?» Anna asked sharply. «Go on!»
Lyudmila shrugged:
«Well, nothing much. The car dealership went bankrupt, and the workers at the winery went on strike due to low wages, and now no one wants to work there. So our friend found himself penniless and started looking for a new victim. This time in Russia. He’s too well-known in Italy, and in his line of work, fame is not an advantage. Here he married for the third time. But he was unlucky: though his wife promised to gift him a jewelry store on their first anniversary, she turned out to be a cunning woman, much older than him. He played the dutiful husband for a whole year, catering to his wife’s whims and waiting for the anniversary. But when the long-awaited day came, instead of a jewelry store, he got a hefty kick out of the door from his dear wife.»
Anna couldn’t hide a smile.
«Serves him right!» she sincerely said. «But why did she kick him out?»
«Probably tired of him,» Lyudmila laughed. «The lady loves young and tender boys; it’s kind of a hobby for her: collecting boys. To make it look decent, she marries them. Her longest marriage lasted a year and a half, but then she divorced again. Most likely found a replacement for her Italian, and that was that.
But the poor guy was so offended by his ex-wife that he forged her signature on documents to take over the store. So now he’s also facing a prison term.
«Yuck,» Anna grimaced. «How disgusting. Probably he was seeing someone else at the same time he was with me.»
«It’s possible,» agreed the manager. «But honestly, no one bothered to find out. The task was just to dig up something about this guy’s past.
But the story with Petrovich is darker…
You see, Anna Sergeyevna, the grandfather fell for a typical scam. But the thing is, Kostya—our Petrovich’s real grandson—is currently in jail for a crime he didn’t commit.
His mother did indeed die in childbirth, and since then his father turned to drink and neglected his son. One day his father gambled away a significant amount, and he was almost killed, but then his son intervened and said he would pay the money. There was nowhere he could get that kind of money, even though the boy was working three jobs. Eventually… some people came to him and said they understood he couldn’t pay back the debt, but there was another way to settle it. Specifically, to take the blame for one of their gang. They had apparently smashed up some stall at night.
They told the boy all the details, and added that if he refused, he might as well go pick out a coffin for his drunken father.
«And he agreed,» the girl whispered. She wasn’t asking. She was affirming. «How much longer does he have to serve?»
«Not long,» Lyudmila reassured her. «He gets out in a few days. I think someone among his cellmates knew about Petrovich, about his house… and so they scammed the old man.
«I see…»
Anna glanced at her wrist out of habit. There was no watch there.
«I… I’ll go then to Petrovich, tell him everything. Maybe he’ll want to meet his grandson.»
Kostya turned out to be a sturdy broad-shouldered young man of about twenty-six. His face was simple but kind, with smiling blue eyes.
«Thank you for looking after my grandfather, Anna Sergeyevna,» he said right away.
«You’re welcome,» she smiled. «Petrovich… Your grandfather is a very kind and decent man; it was a pleasure to help him. Maybe… maybe I could help you too…» she hesitated. It was unclear how this former convict would take the offer. Anna had heard many stories about how ex-convicts desperately cling to anyone who shows them a bit of pity, then drain everything they can from their victim, and often end up back behind bars because they don’t know how to work and return to crime.
Kostya smiled as if he had read her thoughts.
«Maybe you’d like to return to your city?» she found herself saying. «Surely you have friends there, a girlfriend… perhaps an apartment.»
He shook his head.
«No, I have nothing left there. My father died in a drunken accident, fell asleep with a cigarette, and burned down the apartment with himself. Friends have long since moved away, and I never had a girlfriend. So, I’ll probably stay near my grandfather and get a job. We’ll manage together somehow… yes, we’ll manage.
Thank you, Anna Sergeyevna, you’ve already helped enough. Thanks again for my grandfather. I don’t need anything else. Just maybe a job… with my past, it’s hard to get started.»
«What can you do?» Anna asked cautiously. «After all, I own a restaurant, and it’s a specific kind of work. You’re not a chef, are you?»
Kostya shook his head.
«Thank God!» Anna thought to herself but of course didn’t say it aloud.
«Well, in that case, I’m afraid I have nothing else to offer you. We’re fully staffed with waiters and bartenders… Although, one of the security guards recently left, and I’m looking for someone to fill his place.»
The young man smiled broadly, genuinely.
«I was a security guard before… before prison, that is.»
«Then come tomorrow around three o’clock,» Anna sighed. She really didn’t want to hire an ex-convict, but it would be awkward to back out now after offering help. As they say, a spoken word is not a sparrow; once it flies out, you can’t catch it.
She would need to ask the staff to keep an eye on him… and tell Lyudmila to watch him closely.
Oh… Anna leaned her forehead on her crossed hands and chuckled softly, sadly, at herself. What kind of person is she? Always finding adventures everywhere!
For the first two months, she closely monitored the new employee, demanding the same vigilance from others.
«Don’t take your eyes off him, Lyudmila,» she urged the manager. «Understand, he might have been a simple, honest guy once. Maybe he still is. But prison doesn’t usually change people for the better, and we can’t forget that. Keep a close watch on him. You never know about people.»
Lately, Anna had noticed she no longer regarded people with her former enthusiastic trust. It suddenly seemed to her that she was older than many of her friends, and she found them less interesting than before. Once? Or was it just recently?
She herself didn’t know exactly what had made her grow up so suddenly and dramatically: the disgusting story with scammer Romeo? Meeting Petrovich and his grandson? It was unclear. Probably a combination of both, but Anna didn’t want to delve into it. She preferred to immerse herself in work.
Now she arrived at the restaurant first and left last, often crossing paths with the new security guard.
Kostya was not overly familiar; he never even tried to start a conversation with her, sticking only to greeting and parting phrases.
The girl was quite satisfied with this.
«There will be a nighttime delivery today,» Lyudmila informed Kostya. «They’re bringing alcohol. Twenty-five boxes of white wine, remember that and count them. They always bring either too much or too little.»
«Why aren’t the bartenders receiving it?» Kostya was surprised. «Alcohol is their domain.»
«They do receive it. Usually, deliveries are in the morning, but today the logistics got mixed up. So you’ll be taking it.»
«Twenty-five whites, got it? And check.»
And Kostya was left alone.
He liked working in this restaurant. In prison, to avoid succumbing to despair, he often told himself that his life would still turn out well. But he never dared to imagine it being this good. He found a job right away, and his grandfather—a great man—was near. For the first time in his life, Kostya had a real family.
And all thanks to Anna. Mentally, he already called her only by her first name: Anya, Anuta, Anechka. She appeared like a good fairy from somewhere and helped him. Just like that, for a simple «thank you.» Could such things really happen?
«I would marry such a woman—and need nothing more,» he confessed to his grandfather one day. «Only where is she, and where am I…»
«You should go back to school,» Petrovich advised him. «There are all sorts of courses now; you can get a professional qualification. Get a better job, not just security.»
«Do you think she’d notice me then?» Kostya smiled.
His grandfather only winked slyly in response.
«You’ve set a high goal for yourself, Kostya. Aim to be worthy of it.»
The wine arrived safe and sound. After chatting briefly with the delivery guys, Kostya locked all the doors again and went on his mandatory hourly rounds of the building. He lingered a bit longer than usual in the storeroom, listening to a quiet rustling somewhere near the boxes of wine. A mouse, perhaps? He didn’t have the right to open the boxes, so he’d have to wait until morning to sort it out.
He walked through the kitchen and then into the restaurant hall. In the nighttime silence, the hall looked particularly impressive, and Kostya felt out of place amidst the luxury.
Nothing suspicious was observed in the cloakroom either. The clock hands pointed to four in the morning. Soon the bakers would arrive. Their shift always started earlier than everyone else’s. The dough for the airy, beloved ciabatta bread was prepared the evening before, so there was no time to waste. Besides, the bakers had many other tasks: shaping the dough for bread rolls for proofing, not to mention the sweet pastry, which was always terribly fussy to make… and that’s not even considering the preparations of various fillings! Kostya initially couldn’t stop himself; he wanted to try everything: juicy pies with salmon, aromatic buns with the funny name «brioche,» unexpectedly tasty pastries with cranberries and currants… the list went on!
Fortunately, the bakers always left some of their creations specifically for the staff.
The security guard was glad that the baking shift was about to start. It wasn’t scary to be in the restaurant at night, but it was strangely melancholy, and he never liked being alone.
The rustling noise coming from somewhere near the kitchen made him jump.
Kostya hurried across the hall, entered the kitchen, and gasped, covering his face with his sleeve, as a vile, concentrated smell of gasoline hit his nose. Something under one of the tables was smoking heavily. Grabbing the fire extinguisher from the wall, the guard rushed to the source of the fire, and… almost burst out laughing with relief when he saw that it was just a floor rag burning. But his laughter soon faded when he realized that there were several such rags, cleverly hidden and spread throughout the drawers, ovens, and Kostya dashed between them with the extinguisher, locating new ones primarily by the smoke that was filling and filling the room.
«Kostya! Kostya!»
He groaned and opened his eyes. A cool female hand touched his forehead. Where was he?
«How are you feeling?»
«Anna Sergeyevna?!»
Now he remembered. And immediately tried to get up.
«Anna Sergeyevna, there…»
«Ssh, calm down, or you’ll rip out the IV. You prevented the fire. But you breathed in a lot of smoke, and you have a couple of burns. Lie back down; you shouldn’t be agitated.»
«Who?» he asked weakly, settling back on the bed.
A short, melodic laugh.
«My almost-fiancé. He’s been arrested already. All that is no longer important. But you—you’re a real hero. You saved my restaurant. As soon as you recover, ask me for whatever you want. Deal?»
«Your hand,» he replied without hesitation.
Anna looked puzzled at the young man. What was he talking about?
«Your hand? You want to stand up again? But you can’t yet.»
«Your hand,» he repeated, and seeing they didn’t understand, he smiled mischievously, «Your hand and heart.»
Six months later, Anna and Konstantin were browsing a baby goods supermarket.
«So, have we chosen everything?» Kostya was anxious. «Did we forget anything?»
«I think we’ve got everything. And still…» Anna thoughtfully stroked her rounded belly, «I’m sad to leave the restaurant. I’ve gotten so used to being at work all the time.»
«But it’s not forever,» her husband reassured her. «And you’re leaving Lyudmila in your place, and she’s knowledgeable, everything will be fine.»
Since he managed to clear his criminal record, proving he was innocent of the crime for which he had been convicted… what since then? Life had begun anew! A new life in which he felt much more confident and better. He had definite plans. And even found work in his field, though now he was also thinking about continuing his education.
«And what will I be now?» his wife interrupted his thoughts. «Just a plain housewife?»
He smiled and tenderly kissed her on the nose.
«You will always be yourself.»
